UK watchdog fines two firms £270k for cold-calling 531,000 people who had opted out

2021-02-15 15:32

Another month and two more British companies behind nuisance marketing calls are collectively facing a £270,000 penalty for breaking the law by calling people registered by the Telephone Preference Service.

Just last month UK data watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office issued the same financial slap against four companies found to be flouting regulations.

Call Centre Ops [PDF] of Nottingham, in the heart of England, made 159,461 direct marketing calls to TPS registered users between May and October 2019, and a number of complaints were subsequently were sent to the ICO. The company told the watchdog that it used data provided by third-party lead generation suppliers.

The ICO said there was no evidence the business had made checks to ensure adequacy of consent to call TPS users in the database, and it fined Call Centre Ops £120,000.

"We have asked the ICO if it intends to pursue Milanesi, the founder and sole director at Call Centre Ops, and a spokesperson said:"The ICO doesn't find directors, officers of companies or companies themselves 'guilty'.

"A monetary penalty is a civil administrative procedure. As you know a final Notice has recently been issued against Call Centre Ops for £120,000. If the penalty is unpaid after the deadline set out in the Notice, the ICO will consider all options open to it to undertake further action against responsible staff at the company, including recovery of the penalty in full." .

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